Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (KJV)

From time to time, I reveal just how absent-minded I can be. Last night, in a game of euchre, I played two hands quite badly. My mind was on the two young people who had just come to our new door to ask for the old door that we had propped up on the telephone pole, as a free-will offering to the world. I repented of my inattention and lack of focus, and my playing improved, much to my pleasure, since I love the game.

My absent-mindedness can have no bounds, it seems. I planted an herb garden this year. I knew that I would forget what the plants were and what they were all for, so I not only took photos, I also charted them on paper, and wrote down what they were for. I recall that, in the spring, I'd go out and gather a few leaves of spearmint and a leaf of catnip to make myself an invigorating cup of fresh, hot herbal tea. But, having incarcerated myself in the computer room this summer, as well as escaping the excessive heat outside, the herb garden went out of mind.

Later, I went out to harvest some spearmint, and came to where the catnip had been planted. The tag was still firmly in the ground. I removed the best leaf for the plant's sake, but noticed a gaping hole where I had put the Echinacea plant. Only when the buds flowered a few weeks later did I realize that it had been transplanted perfectly to the spot two feet away where I had planted the catnip. The catnip was nowhere to be found. My husband doesn't believe an animal did it. At least the Echinacea leaf did me no harm.

I am struck with how vulnerable our minds are to distraction and preoccupation. It is only through God's great and abundant mercy that we haven't fallen into an open manhole on the street, or fallen victim to some other bizarre occurrence, although we have had our share of mishaps! God was gracious to see us through.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we are frail and weak in our own strength. You are our creator and we thank You for Your guidance, through the beacon of Jesus Christ our Lord, so that we do not wander off Your path. Thank You for the Holy Spirit to guide us in the moments when our minds and hearts start to drift off. Thank You for keeping us safe and strengthening us with Your power. Amen.

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Thought for Today

Don't forget that even when God is silent, He is still doing something for us.

Verse for Today

John 6:20-21 – [Jesus] said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading. (NIV)